WALES’ top politicians in Cardiff Bay now have something in common with villagers in a Third World African village – they both use twinned toilets.

WALES’ top politicians in Cardiff Bay now have something in common with villagers in a Third World African village – they both use twinned toilets.

The National Assembly yesterday became one of the first organisations in Wales to sign up for an initiative aimed at funding clean latrines in the struggling African nation of Burundi.

Shops, pubs, public bodies and even households are being urged to pay £60 to twin their conveniences with toilets in the East African country.

The cash will be used to fund sanitary loos in a country that has been beset by civil war and which is ranked as one of the 10 poorest in the world.

The fundraising initiative has been set up by development charities Tearfund and Cord in the run-up to World Toilet Day on Friday.

Deputy Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler yesterday received a framed photo of the National Assembly’s twinned latrine in Burundi, along with its exact geographical coordinates, which are searchable on Google Earth, to mark the donation.

Unsanitary loos are seen as one of the reasons children in the Third World die from preventable diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation, which kill three children under the age of five every minute.

Mrs Butler said: “This campaign draws attention to something that we take for granted but something that can make a big difference to the health and safety of people in countries like Burundi, and I wish the campaign every success.”

Senior church leaders were also at the Senedd event to support the campaign – and pledged to twin their toilets with a latrine in the remote Giharo Commune of Rutana Province, Burundi.

Rev Hywel Meredydd, director of Tearfund in Wales, said: “Most of us assume a decent toilet is bog standard, but for a third of the world’s population their lives are at risk because they don’t have a safe place to go to the loo.

“We are thrilled that the Welsh Assembly and church leaders have not washed their hands of the part they can play in saving lives.”

He said the latrines in Giharo Commune had made a massive difference to people coming home after 15 years as refugees.

On their return, the people of Gilharo discovered that everything had been destroyed in the civil war.

Amid the devastation were burnt-out houses, the charred ruins of schools and healthcare centres, contaminated water sources, non-existent sanitation facilities and overgrown fields without a single crop to eat or sell.

With support, the people of Giharo Commune have been able to get back on their feet. Hundreds of households have received help in rebuilding homes and latrines, and men, women and children have been supported with health and hygiene education.

Toilet twinning has provided safe toilets for more than 9,000 people in Burundi since it started in 2008.